After seeking proposals from developers for its Lower 9th Ward Development Initiative, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority is making 188 properties available to five development groups to build housing in the neighborhood.
Among the groups that got NORA's OK this week is Jourdan Valley, a "cohousing" development featuring individual homes with communal areas including a laundry facility, guest rooms and a co-working space.
The group plans to use 13 lots, creating about 26 units.
The other groups that got approval?:
Habitat for Humanity: building 72 units on 48 lots
The St. Bernard Project: two-family units on 36 lots, a total of 72 units
Perez APC and Harmony Neighborhood Development: 100 units on 61 lots
Neville Development: 35 units on 30 lots
A sixth developer also is in talks to build at the site.
The groups who submitted proposals for the initiative, the largest housing initiative in the Lower 9 since Katrina, were required to show how their single or two-family homes will be marketed to middle- and low-income households for lease or sale. The groups will also have to secure financing before negotiating a sale price for the lots and beginning construction.
• N.O. Redevelopment Authority OKs Lower 9th Ward housing initiatives [The Advocate]
• Largest Lower 9th Ward housing initiative since Katrina moving forward [NOLA.com]